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When I was first approached to cover Aftermaths first annual show in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, I knew I would have a good time. I was originally called to cover this show for Street Trucks Magazine, but once there I wound up shooting a few extra pictures for Truckin Magazine and of course the pictures you see here in SSM. I left the airport here in town about 6am the Friday before the show and was bound for Atlanta to switch planes for the second half of my trip to Florida. After about a 4-hour trip (including the layover in Atlanta) I was finally in Ft Lauderdale waiting on Timmy (or as he became to be know later in the weekend, Taxi Timmy) from the West Palm chapter of Xtreme Lowz to pick me up. After the short trip to check into the hotel, I had planned to hop in the pool but decided to ride with Timmy to help Tito wrap up his permanent convertible before the rain hit. We got his truck wrapped up on the trailer and were off to the show site to unload it and get it inside. After years of training his son to lock the door when he gets out of the truck, Tito’s keys happened to get locked in the tow vehicle while it was running. Fortunately a couple of the Aftermath guys helped us out and broke into his truck.Next it was off to the hotel to hit the pool in the hot Florida sun, but being south Florida weather is unpredictable, it turned dark and poured the rain for a while. I took this time to catch up on some sleep, well until John O’Neil from Sport Truck Magazine (who was rooming with me) came in and woke me up. I decided to take off with him and Mike from Aftermath to head back to the show site and hang out for a while. Once things were ready for the next day to begin, we took off with the Aftermath guys to grab a bite to eat before we hit the bed to prepare for the next 2 days of taking pictures. When we showed up at the show Saturday morning, the crowd was already starting to roll in as some of Florida’s best customs were filling the show field. To keep the spectators out of the sun for the whole day, the Aftermath crew had a huge circus size tent set up complete with air conditioning. That and the fact that the show was at the Coconut Creek Casino, it also gave those old enough a chance to gamble away a few bucks. I also took a few minutes to loose $3! LOL The rain once again passed though a couple times throughout the day. This didn’t slow things down; it just made it hard to shoot any features.
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After the days events were over, everyone took off to eat and clean up. As soon as we had finished eating it was back to the show to catch the draggin contest. This was held on a back road behind the show field. This was perfect because there want any traffic, so no one had to worry about hitting an oncoming car. A few of the guys took off to the main four-lane highway for a few more sparks due to a higher speed. Even though most of the nights events went off with out a problem, there were a couple mishaps. Tito from Xtreme Lowz happened to loose his truck into the ditch when his steering box broke. One of the Aftermath guys also drug through his drive shaft, which put him out of commission for the night. Even Eddy Cebreco broke out the infamous Toyota for a few passes down the strip.Sunday morning I was off to the show early and lined up a couple features between the massive rain showers throughout the day. I must admit, the Aftermath crew made the best-looking specialty awards I’ve ever seen. The best truck award was a highly modified Dub City truck mounted on a custom metal base. This is one show that even though it is about a 14-hour drive for me, ill make it a point to fly to it again. The Aftermath guys know how to put on a show!! Even though this was their first show ever, it wont be their last. For more info on their next years show, check out their web site at www.itdontstop.com. Brandon BurrellSSM-XtrmLzNCXtreme Lowz (Carolinas)
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